CHAPTER 6: A CANDLE OF HOPE
3.3 Who finds it meaningful?
As indicated in chapter four the adherents of both Rohr and Buchan are diverse in nature and background. The major difference in terms of this study is that Rohr’s followers are mainly ordained.
It is worth noting two items in regard to the demographic of the study. First, the respondents were all white. While respondents indicated the presence of other races at events led by both Buchan and Rohr and their appreciation of the speaker, I was not able to identify any for the purposes of the interviews. This may be as a result of the predominantly white context from which I was working and a discourse of the white male norm, or it may be because, in the case of Buchan, his appeal is particularly to the
Afrikaner identity.
Second, particularly in terms of Buchan’s supporters, the majority of the respondents were male. I suggest that this does not indicate that Buchan is not popular among women. Anecdotally many of the wives of the men I interviewed expressed admiration for him and a wish that he would organise something for them. I believe the reason for fewer women being interviewed was again white male hegemony and perception among the men that Buchan fans are male and had been to a Mighty Men’s Conference,
however his focus on masculine image could also have played a role.
All of the respondents indicated that they found a more meaningful experience of God through their respective mentor. By and large most respondents had been called into a deeper relationship with God at some point in their lives through a moment of response such as “giving one’s life to Christ”.
Buchan’s followers like the image of tough men called to power, prestige and
possession, but what appeared especially meaningful for them was the experience of the call to move beyond ego even as tough men. Rohr’s followers, who had mostly
experienced a more fundamentalist faith earlier in their lives, perceived the on-going call of God as one of moving beyond fundamentalism towards what they felt was a more mature faith, with two respondents mentioning Fowler’s Stages of Faith (1981), indicating that they felt there had been a growth from a Buchan type faith to something different.
4 Conclusion
As noted in chapter two, for many people South Africa is not a particularly hopeful place to be. While this could be true for most South Africans, this study focuses particularly on the “previously advantaged” who have felt disempowered in the “New South Africa” and who feel that they are losing or have already lost what has been important for them. Respondents from both groups spoke of how they felt their mentor had been able to restore in them a sense of hope for South Africa. For Buchan’s
followers that hope is based to a large extent in the power of Jesus as Saviour and in what a country run by “born again” Christians might look like.
While Buchan has given men their pride back – although according to Nadar that has been done in a questionable way – and has called them to take their place first in their homes and then in their communities, a more practical response to the needs of the country was also indicated as being where hope lay, which was, to a large extent, more important for Rohr’s followers. The idea of God being at work in the midst of the difficulties and of being able to see the current South African context not as one of threat but of opportunity ran through Rohr’s followers’ responses.
As was indicated in the responses, there are many factors which result in the respective authors’ popularity, among which we could name the ability to allow followers an encounter with God in a way that is meaningful and transformational in their lives; then a simplicity and willingness to engage with people where they are – particularly in terms of their struggle for identity; and to communicate their vision simply to their followers.
Both approaches to hope have their strengths and their weaknesses. It could be argued that Buchan’s theology and outlook on the world is shallow; whereas Rohr is too
confusing to people who aren’t theologians; in some cases, Buchan helps us to see more clearly than Rohr, and in others it is Rohr who offers a clearer vision, but both have something to teach the church today about being relevant in a postmodern world, and how to approach the hunger people have for an authentic identity that will see them through difficult times in their own lives and in the country.
If churches, church leaders and Christians are able to do this, then, as stated in the introduction, the church can indeed continue to be relevant and go beyond its walls and the walls that society places around it. It can become a candle “burning between hope and despair, faith and doubt, life and death,” and will continue to be relevant to a society that is hungry for the spiritual, but doubts that the church can supply it.
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Appendices
1 Statement of Faith – Angus Buchan
What is set out below is the Statement of faith of Buchan’s organisation, Shalom Ministries: (2001, p. 146)18
We believe…
1 The Bible to be the inspired and infallible authoritative word of God.
2 In the eternal triune God.
3 In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
4 That for the salvation of the lost and sinful man (sic), regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
5 In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
6 In the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto resurrection of life, and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
7 In the creation, test and fall of man (sic), as recorded in Genesis; his total spiritual depravity and inability to attain to divine righteousness apart from God.
8 In the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men (sic), conceived of the Holy Spirit, both of the virgin Mary, very God and very Man.
9 In the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
18 This was taken from The Seed Sower, however the same statement of faith appears in many of Shalom’s publications.
2 Statement of Faith – M.A.L.Es.
Men As Learners and Elders is a programme started by Rohr to “direct men in lifelong spiritual learning, train men to be elders, maintain on-going relationships with
participants, provide Men’s Rites of Passage and to develop additional Rites as Needed”
(2005, p. 179). Their statement of faith is reproduced below as a comparison to
Buchan’s view. Rohr also offers “A Reconstructionist Creed” at the conclusion of Hope Against Darkness (2001:180).
We believe…
1 Every man is a beloved Son of God
2 Men are ready for serious spiritual journeys.
3 Our message is grounded in the Christian Paschal Mystery while integrating the symbols and rituals from other religions and cultures.
4 Men must seek to improve their conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation.
5 Men must have the affirmation and guidance of wise mentors 6 Men have a need and responsibility to mentor future generations.
7 In a universal message that transcends the boundaries of race, nation, culture, gender, economics/class. politics, sexual orientation and religious differences.
8 Men must seek honest mutuality in their relationships with women in thought, word and deed.
9 Men must recognise and critique their own power in regard to women, minorities and the poor, and use their power for justice in the world.
10 There is a need for collaborating with like-minded groups and other faith traditions.